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I've heard that you should never use Vaseline on the seal to preserve it because the chemicals in Vaseline actually deteriorate the seal over time. Is this true? Should anything be used to preserve the seal?

So, this will be a round-about update.

Although I don't put Vaseline or anything else on ammo can seals anymore, in the early days of my firearms ownership I treated maybe five or six can seals with petroleum jelly on the advice of a friend.

This past weekend I had a chance to open three of these so-treated ammo cans, and the seals seemed to be as supple and serviceable as they were twenty years ago when the Vaseline was applied.

So, should I call this "myth busted" that Vaseline harms the seal in a military ammo can? I'm thinking it is.

W.I. Thomas: "If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences".

On Vaseline... The right answer is do not use petroleum products on rubber. The amount of time for something bad to happen is clearly beyond 20 years in this case. The ammo can rubber gaskets are likely engineered to be petroleum resistant would be my guess.

On the whole EMP thing... Good God.
A HEMP would shower down lots of electrons that need a home. well grounded boxes would presumably pass those electrons to the earth's magnetic core most efficiently. If the boxes are not grounded, you might actually be creating more risk for electronics inside.

For people who actually follow EMP, there is a new Commission proposed in the National Defense Authorization Act likely to go to the President next month. Hopefully they will get some more serious and realistic science into this commission.

I'm sure that you know this already, but military ammo also comes packed in cardboard boxes and bandoliers. The only time I can see there being an issue is when you are using cans that won't seal correctly, or moisture was introduced.

A few years back some 7.62x51 (thinking it was German) got imported that often had corroded cartridges inside of sealed polymer packs that was believed to be caused by acids in the paper/card board packaging.

Since we are now necroposting. I would be willing to bet it was caused by some issue during the packing process.

Originally Posted by JasonB1

A few years back some 7.62x51 (thinking it was German) got imported that often had corroded cartridges inside of sealed polymer packs that was believed to be caused by acids in the paper/card board packaging.